I woke as if from a nightmare. It was still dark and Peppin was on watch. She turned when she heard me move.
"You're awake," she said.
The fire was low, so he leaned down and threw on a log.
I stood. "You can sleep, I'll take over."
She peered up at me and her eyes drunk me in. "I'm not tired."
I shook my head. "You will be. Sleep while you can." I pointed to her bedroll.
She sighed and made herself comfortable. I watched her breathing, her core and thought about how she learned her techniques. The protectors didn't use quickbars and didn't have qi sight like me. They had to feel around in the dark. And yet, she had created intricate, almost delicate techniques which were incredibly efficient, because they had to be.